Former United player Danny Welbeck pulled one back for Arsenal just before half-time, as Ander Herrera restored the two-goal cushion midway through the second half.

Mesut Ozil pulled another one back for the visitors, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the home side from taking all three points.

Having scored in the FA Cup in this fixture last season, Nacho Monreal nearly followed suit after receiving Ozil’s dinked pass, but David De Gea was quick off his line to thwart his fellow Spaniard.

Guillermo Varela and Michael Carrick were booked either side of Memphis seeing a low free-kick held by Petr Cech.

Brilliant work from Herrera then led to the opening goal.

After winning a tackle, he played a one-two with Juan Mata before spreading the play to Varela, whose cross wasn’t dealt with, and the loose ball fell to Rashford, who smashed home a finish from close range.

The forward doubled his tally after Jesse Lingard’s left-footed cross from Varela’s headed knockdown found Rashford unmarked inside the area, and he directed his header past Cech for 2-0.

It was another header that halved the deficit, with Mesut Ozil’s whipped free-kick glanced into the back of the net by Welbeck, as half-time arrived five minutes later.

Early after the restart, Morgan Schneiderlin saw a shot blocked as Cech spilled but then held a Memphis attempt after the winger cut inside onto his favoured right foot.

It was a swift breakaway from United to produce their third of the afternoon, with Mata’s through ball allowing Rashford to chase, and the youngster’s awareness to tee up the lingering Herrera led to the shot deflecting in off Laurent Koscielny.

De Gea then produced a fine reaction save to deny Welbeck his second, but the rebound from Ozil was struck into the ground and the ball bounced over the Spanish keeper for 3-2.

Expecting a nervy finish, substitute Olivier Giroud headed over with De Gea catching a tame headed chance from Koscielny, as the Gunners failed to muster any clear cut chances to rescue a result from the game.

Huge cheers met the full-time whistle, with United making it three wins in six days to cap off a fine week for the club.

Spirited determination to see this game through was pleasing to see, with every player pulling their weight and working for one another to get the job done, with Timothy Fosu-Mensah and James Weir making their debuts off the bench.

Another quick turnaround in a busy schedule sees the visit of Watford on Wednesday night, with an 8pm kick-off time scheduled at Old Trafford in the Premier League.